


The Ritual

by Willowflower_Waterlily



Series: Marie Hawke and Rei Trevelyan [9]
Category: Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2015-02-19
Packaged: 2018-03-13 14:52:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3385874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willowflower_Waterlily/pseuds/Willowflower_Waterlily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marie Hawke has found a way to separate Anders and Justice, but at what cost?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Marie Hawke and Rei Rutherford sit across from one another as they play chess in the garden at Skyhold. As they play, Marie works up the courage to ask her friend for help. "Rei, I need to ask you a favor, one mage friend to another."

"Ask away, I'll help you with anything." Rei replied, "well almost anything. I do have a family I need to come home to." Marie chuckled nervously as she made her move.

"I've found a way to separate vengeance from Anders, but I need help from another mage or two. I'm not powerful enough on my own." Rei frowned and motioned for her to continue. "It's a ritual using spirit healing and rift magic. I would cleanse Anders and drive vengeance out, you would create rift energy with your magic to pull it out to you. Then we would destroy it."

"How does Anders feel about this? What is the risk to us?" Rei asked as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Would it be alright if I brought a couple of people with me?"

"Anders does not know, I've only recently contacted him again. I've been on my own, because I thought it would be safer for everyone I love and care for. There would be no risk on your part, but a lot of risk on my own. I would run the risk of over extending myself, but I need to do this. Who would you have in mind to bring?" Marie looked up from the board at Rei before she turned and watched the children play in the garden.

"Dorian and Bull. Dorian isn't a rift mage, but he might still be of use, and Bull for helping us face the demon. When did you want to have this done?" 

"As soon as possible. I have Anders hiding in a cave nearby." Rei nodded and stood up. They abandoned their game, and went off to gather the people and supplied they needed.


	2. Chapter 2

They approached a cave about an hour from Skyhold. Rei was surprised that no one knew about this cave given the proximity to home. The cave was deep and covered in an assortment of minerals. She made a not to herself to come back and collect some. As they entered the back part of the cave, they found Anders. He looked tired, and he clutched his head between his hands. "Anders, my love." Marie said, as she walked up to him. He looked up, his eyes flickered between his own and an eerie blue glow. He cast a spell at her and she stumbled backward.

"I know what you intend to do." He said in an unearthly voice. "I won't allow it. He is mine." Rei cast an immobilize spell on Anders and they quickly got to work. Rei summoned a ball of rift energy at one side of Anders as Marie pushed white spirit energy into him. A scream filled the cave as Anders and vengeance were separated. Anders sank to his knees, exhausted as vengeance raged next to him. Bull charged it as the three mages assisted by casting spells. 

"Marie? Are you all right?" Rei asked as she watched her friend clinging to her staff, pale and shaking.

"I..." Marie began, before she dropped her staff, and collapsed into a heap. Anders rushed to her as the other three stood back to give them room.

"Marie! Love! What did you do?" He gently picked her up and shook her, trying to wake her up. Tears streamed down his face as he held on to his love. "Why? Why would you do this? You could die from it. I'm not worth it." He whispered into her hair.

"She did it because she loves you." Rei said as she knelt down beside them. "And I helped because she's my friend. I think she overextended herself, but she should be okay. She'll just need to rest." Anders cast a healing spell to check that there wasn't more damage, and began to cast new spells in panic.

"Oh love!" He sobbed clinging to Marie's body and rocking. "She is in a coma. We need to get her somewhere with medical supplies and soon, or she'll die."

"Come back to Skyhold. Anything we have is yours."

"You would have that abomination in Skyhold?" A new voice spat in disgust. Rei turned around and faced Cullen. His face was distorted in anger, his sword in his hand. Rei sighed and stood between him and Anders.

"He is no abomination. We drove vengeance from him, he is just a man now." Cullen tried to go around Rei to attack Anders, but she kept getting in the way. "I will not let you attack him, husband. Marie is fighting for her life now, and I will not have her efforts wasted because of your lingering anger."

"He blew up the Chantry! He started the mage-Templar war! He must be punished." Cullen replied.

"He had a demon in him, I doubt he would have ever thought to do that on his own. The war was going to start and start in Kirkwall regardless of his actions. You and I both know that. Let him atone for what he did. We'll put him to work, he is a healer after all, and since Solas left, we've been in need of a spirit healer. Perhaps we'll have two now." Cullen sheathed his sword, but continued to glare in Anders' direction. "We need to move and move quickly. Do I need to order you to back off?" Rei gave Cullen an annoyed look before she motioned for Bull to pick Marie up. She extended her hand to Anders and helped him stand up. They walked past Cullen, Rei supporting Anders and made their way back to Skyhold.


	3. Chapter 3

Bull stood in front of the door, completely blocking anyone from entering. "Sorry Commander, you're not allowed in by order of the Boss Lady." Cullen rubbed his neck, frustrated.

"I could just order you to move." 

"No you couldn't." Bull replied, shaking his head. "I like you, but you're not worth the punishment. A month in the Hissing Wastes. She'd probably send you too." Cullen growled in frustration before he walked away.

 

Anders bent over the bed, scouring his mind for any way to bring his love back to him. Marie was tucked under a pile of covers, pale and her breathing shallow. Her condition getting worse by the hour, she was slipping away from him. He gently lifted her head up and tipped some healing potion into her mouth and helped her swallow by massaging her neck. Anders drank another lyrium potion and tried to find a way to heal her. He felt as though he were banging his head against a stone wall. Nothing was helping.

 

"How could you have that bastard stay in the keep?" Cullen raged at Rei, trying not to scream. Rei took a deep breath and leveled a stern gaze at him.

"He is the love of my friend's life, she might die for what she did for him. Would you have that sacrifice go wasted? By having him with us, he can atone for what he's done. I will keep him here."

"He does not deserve any of it. Not what Hawke did for him, and not what you are doing for him. Do you understand that?" Cullen growled.

"I hear you loud and clear, Knight-Captain." Cullen winced as she continued. "But everyone deserves a chance to atone. You got that chance, Blackwall got the chance, and Anders will too. Do not think I say this as your wife. I say it as Inquisitor, and as such my orders will be followed. Have I made myself clear?"

"Crystal." Cullen grumbled.

"What if it was me?" She asked softly. Cullen looked at her, puzzled. "The ritual was a risk, and while Marie assured me that it was her that was taking the risk, what if I were the one laying in the bed now? Would you truly sacrifice me to keep Anders from atoning for the mess his actions created?" 

"I..." Cullen started, rubbing the back of his neck while staring at his feet.

"Think about that the next time you want to have this fight. It could have been me dying. Think about how that would make you feel, because I can assure you that he is feeling that and more." Rei turned to walk away, but paused at the door. "I still have to go out into the field, and we have no healer. What if something were to happen to me, and I died because we forced Anders out or executed him? Would you leave our children without a mother because of your anger?" Rei walked out before he could answer, and he sank into the chair beside him.


	4. Chapter 4

"Is there anything I can do to help, Anders?" Rei asked as she handed him a cup of broth. He shook his head as he took a sip from the cup. "I have Bull outside so you won't be disturbed."

"So... Married to a Templar. From Kirkwall." Anders said into his cup.

"Well, former Templar. He left the order when he joined the Inquisition. Even stopped taking lyrium." Anders looked up at her, surprised. "I know what he was like in Kirkwall, and I won't make excuses for what he did there, but I will say that he was so angry then. What happened to him in Ferelden's circle."

"Oh, right, I remember now. I was at that circle too, escaped several times. He was a quiet one, blushed at all the girls. I always wondered why he didn't drag myself, Hawke, or Merrill in to the circle."

"He said it was because you all were doing good things in Kirkwall. My sister was transferred to Kirkwall, almost immediately made tranquil." Anders placed a hand on her shoulder. "Cullen was one of the ones that opposed the right being used on her." Rei took one of Marie's hands in her own, standing with Anders to keep vigil.

"She knew the price." A third voice made them jump. "Looking through books, a life for a life. Need to make him whole again. Take the demon out." Cole leaned over and kissed Marie's forehead. "Wasting away, death is soon. I'm so sorry, my love. Live for me." Anders crawled into the bed with Marie and sobbed into her hair, while Rei and Cole looked on helplessly. "Gone." Cole whispered and disappeared. Rei stood by the bed, tears freely flowing down her face as Anders sobbed uncontrollably. Slowly he got out of the bed and leaned into Rei. They held each other and cried until there were no tears left.

"Why?" Anders asked, his voice raspy. "This wasn't worth it. My life is nothing without her. All these years, she was the one that kept me sane. And now I'm all alone."

"She loved you, and she wanted you to be whole again." Rei replied as she held him close. "We'll help you through. You're not alone. I think Marie knew that you would be taken care of with us, that I would never let any harm come to you."

"Will you help me say good bye?" Anders asked as he rested his head on her shoulder.

"Yes, of course." Rei replied. "I will arrange everything. Come with me, I'll find somewhere for you to stay."


	5. Chapter 5

Marie Hawke's funeral was the following day. A pyre was built in the courtyard and all of Skyhold surrounded it to pay their respects. Cullen watched Rei and Varric help Anders throughout the evening, with her daughter and niece in tow while she held their two year old daughter. As Mother Giselle finished the chant, Anders was given a torch. He touched the torch to the pyre and walked around it, until it was completely engulfed in flames. Rei handed Isabel to Dorian and guided Anders away from the pyre. Dorian leaned against Bull as they all said good bye to their friend.

 

"Anders." Cullen called out to him as he approached. "I wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss." The two men stared at each other and Anders frowned at him.

"I don't deserve to be alive while she is gone. She should have killed me that night in high town... I begged her to. If she had listened to me, she would still be alive." Anders ducked his head and began to silently cry. Cullen placed a hand on his shoulder and sighed.

"There was a time that I might have agreed with you, but I was wrong. She did this for you because she loved you. Honor what she did by living and helping people. I know the good you did in Kirkwall, one bad act shouldn't wipe that out." Anders dried his eyes and looked at Cullen. "I knew about your clinic in dark town and how you would escape. It was I that would tip off people when there was going to be a raid."

"You... But I thought you hated mages. It seemed like you saw potential blood mages everywhere. Though Rei did remind me that you were in the Ferelden circle too. I never took you to be hateful there, just quiet. Shy even, especially around Amell." Cullen blushed at the mention of his former crush. "I'm glad to see I was wrong about you."

"I never hated mages, even when I was at my most angry. I mistrusted them, but I could never bring myself that far. I'm sorry for what I didn't see happening back then, so much was kept from me, until it was too late." Cullen sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry for how I treated you in the cave. My wife reminded me that I need to be more empathetic and less judgmental, and she's right."

"It's forgiven. You have an amazing woman, be good to her." Anders said. "I promised Rei that I would join the Inquisition. I'll do my best to earn what my love has given me."

"That's all anyone can ask." Cullen replied.

 

Rei stood on the balcony overlooking the courtyard, her hair dancing around her face. Cullen watched her as he stood by the Orlesian window. She turned to face him, tears streaming down her face as she attempted to tuck her hair behind her ear. He closed the gap between them and held her close. "I'm so sorry for how I behaved, my love. I was wrong. If... If it had been you, I don't know how..." Rei placed her fingers over his lips, and wiped away stray tears that fell from his eyes.

"It wasn't and Anders is hurting, we need to help him. We'll keep him here, and he'll atone for what happened in Kirkwall." Cullen nodded and cupped Rei's cheek in his hand. "As far as I know he is one of the best healers alive, so you'll be able to worry about me less knowing that I'll be in good hands when I'm on the road. I just wish it didn't have to come at such a steep price."

"I know, love, but we can't change the past. We can only go forward." Rei sighed and leaned against Cullen. "It will work out, and our family will grow stronger for it." They held each other, and watched the last embers of the pyre flicker and burn out in the courtyard as the stars glowed in the sky overhead.


End file.
